sweetly bitter
by emptypagestofill
Summary: Because cafes are the perfect place to be bitter. "Life sucks."/"Sorry to hear that. That'll be four dollars."/"You suck."/"Happy New Year to you too."/ InoxShika slight SxS


Because cafes are the perfect place to be bitter. "Life sucks."/"Sorry to hear that. That'll be four dollars."/"_You_ suck."/"Happy New Year to you too."/ IxS slight SxS

* * *

"I'd like a large coffee, black."

On the last day of December, most stores in Konoha were closed to get an early start on the new year. Snow was falling gently and melting as soon as it made contact with the ground, making it impossible to make snowmen or have any kind of fun with the cold. Few cars were on the road and the sidewalks were completely deserted. The last person who was seen walking in the cold was the blonde who walked into the new cafe right by the hospital.

"Life sucks." Ino announced after she ordered her coffee. She shook off the snow from her scarf and earmuffs, and wiped the bottom of her boots on the mat in front of the counter.

"Sorry to hear that." The barista was a tall boy, with rather oddly spiked hair and a lazy drawl. "That'll be four dollars."

Ino glared at the boy. "Is that all you can say after a pretty girl walks in by herself on New Years Eve and says that life sucks? What if I was planning on killing myself?"

"If you were really set on doing it, you wouldn't be here talking to me about it." The boy leaned against the shelves of coffee beans as he waited for the coffee to pour into the cup. "I just make the coffee and watch over the cafe. I'm not much of a talker."

"Hmph. You suck."

"Happy New Year to you too."

Ino glared at the boy before turning to the display case that showed different pastries. "Exactly how old are these pastries?"

"About four hours."

"Really? Because I could've sworn I saw that macaron in that same exact position in the same exact place two days ago." Ino crossed her arms.

The boy sighed. "Fine, I got a little lazy with taking out the old ones. The ones in the back are all fresh."

"I think I'll take my chances another day." Ino stopped looking at the food and turned to the tables. "Is it okay if I sit for a while?"

"As long as you don't kill yourself." The boy said as he adjusted the stream of coffee.

Ino set her coat, scarf and earmuffs down on the chair across from her and settled down into the armchair that had a tall, cushy back and wide arms. "I like this chair. Where'd you get it?"

"Are you seriously asking me this?" The boy came out from behind the counter to hand the mug over to Ino.

"I like it." Ino flung off her shoes and cozied herself into the chair. "This is a nice chair."

"I'll take your word for it." The boy went back to his post. Ino admired the chair for another minute before propping herself up to drink her coffee. Minutes passed by, with only the sounds of the coffee maker filling up the silence.

"So how old are you?" Ino asked suddenly.

The boy didn't answer, and Ino turned to see if he was still there. He was, but he had his head down and looked like he was taking a nap. Ino rolled up a napkin and threw it at his head. The boy looked up with sleepy eyes. "What?"

"I asked you a question."

"Why does it matter how old I am?" The boy settled back into his arms. Ino rolled up another napkin and threw it at him. "Twenty-one."

"Konoha University?"

"Mmhm."

"Wow, small world." Ino leaned back into her chair. "I'm a sophomore at KU. What do you study?"

"Politics."

"Oh, that's cool. I'm studying Psychology."

There was no response. "You know, it's kind of considered rude to fall asleep when you're having a conversation with someone."

"It's also considered rude to wake someone who's sleeping."

"Jerk."

"Chatterbox."

Ino pressed her lips closed firmly. If he wanted the silent treatment, he was going to get the silent treatment. She held her coffee close in her hands and kept sipping at the bitter goodness. It was the only thing getting her through this horrible day. When she had drained the last of her coffee, she set it back down on the table and curled back into the chair. The warm atmosphere and the smell of fresh coffee was making her sleepy.

Just as she was starting the drift off, the small bell on top of the door rung as someone walked into the cafe. Ino curled into a ball, turning her face away from the customers. The last thing she wanted was someone to see her on New Years Eve sleeping on a chair in a cafe by herself.

"Sasuke, let's get some macarons to bring to Naruto." A girl's voice sounded from the display. She sounded like a mother who was eager to bring goodies to her son.

"You can bring him mud in a bag and he'll think it'll taste the same." A boy responded, his voice deep and smooth. He sounded like a father who just wanted to go home.

"Please, we all know if I wasn't in the picture, you guys would be lovers." The girl teased back. At that remark, Ino couldn't resist taking a peek at the two who she thought was a married couple. To her surprise, they looked around her age and even more surprising was the fact that the girl had bright, pink hair that went down her back. She was very pretty, and the boy was extremely good looking. They looked like they could model together in a catalogue.

"Excuse me." The pink haired girl tapped the barista boy's head. "Can I get two large hot chocolates, a large black coffee, and three salted caramel macarons to go?"

The barista boy nodded sleepily and started putting the cups together. The girl turned around and met eyes with Ino, who was still watching them. She smiled at the blonde before turning to her boyfriend. "So we're watching Bambi when we get back, right?"

"Why would we watch Bambi?"

"Because it's almost New Years, and Bambi loses his mom on New Years and we need to honor his mom's death!"

"Sakura, Bambi is a cartoon deer. His mom is not real."

"Your mom's not real!"

"You _are_ twenty, right?"

"Fine, how about Toy Story 3? I know you teared up a little at the end when we watched it together."

"I did not tear-"

"Okay, Mr. Macho. Your allergies started acting up when Andy was giving his toys away."

"Stop. We are not watching Toy Story."

"Why?"

"You almost punched my TV screen when that teddy bear showed up."

"Okay that bear is pure evil and smells like strawberries - what was I supposed to do?"

"Call him dad."

"Excuse me?!"

"Let's just watch I, Robot like we planned."

"That's not New Years-y at all!"

"And Toy Story is?"

"Yes!"

"Your coffee and hot chocolates are ready." The barista boy interrupted their conversation. "Three macarons, right?"

"Actually, can we get three macarons and that giant M&M cookie?" The pink haired girl looked up at her boyfriend. He raised an eyebrow but nodded in agreement. She smiled and went over to the display case to point out the ones she wanted. As her boyfriend paid, the pink haired girl came over to Ino. Ino blinked rapidly, unaware of what the girl wanted.

"Here." She gave Ino the M&M cookie. "Happy New Year!"

Ino stared at the girl. The girl smiled brightly. "Just consider it a gift from a stranger. You looked a little down."

"Thank...you?" Ino took the cookie hesitantly.

"You're welcome!" The girl leaned a little closer. "The barista's cute. You should go after him." She winked before scurrying over to her boyfriend. "Let's go, Naruto must be dying by now."

"Let him die."

"Aw it's so cute how you pretend not to care." Their voices faded as they left the cafe and the door closed behind them. Ino looked at the cookie and then at the barista.

"Is this safe to eat?"

"Should be. That girl comes once a week to buy it."

Ino sighed wistfully. "At least she has people to spend New Years with."

"You don't?"

"My parents went to Suna to visit family and Suna air just dries out my skin. I'd rather stay here by myself and keep my skin looking somewhat good."

"Really. That seems like a bad excuse to spend New Years by yourself."

Ino looked at her empty coffee mug. "Well it's true."

"Right. And it has nothing to do with an ex-boyfriend or anything?"

Ino laughed humorlessly. "My ex-boyfriend who I dumped two weeks ago?"

"Ouch. Right before Christmas?"

"Well what would you have done if you found out your boyfriend was 'playing for the other team'?" Ino snapped.

The barista looked at Ino blankly. "What?"

"You know, not a ladies kind of man."

"...What?"

"He's gay!" Ino almost yelled. "He's about as straight as the leaning tower of Pisa."

The barista mumbled something under his breath that sounded like "Why didn't you just say so?"

"So isn't that great? When someone asks me what I did this year, I could just say I turned my boyfriend gay because before me, he only went out with girls." Ino laughed forcefully.

"No offense, but I don't think you turned him gay. He was probably that way for a long time."

"Yeah, I think that's what his boyfriend told me when I caught them together." Ino slumped in her chair. "The stupid boyfriend that lives in Suna."

"Ah." The barista nodded as he came over to Ino to refill her cup. "What about your friends?"

Ino huffed. "The friends who told me they always suspected something but never told me? Yeah, I really want to spend the new year with them."

"So...I guess you're stuck here."

"Yeah. Why aren't you out with your girlfriend - if you have one?"

The barista poured himself a cup. "We broke up about a month ago."

"Was she playing for the other team too?"

"What? No - can you stop saying that? It was a long distance relationship, and we just grew apart." He shrugged. "It happens."

"Add a sh- in front of that and I'd wholeheartedly agree with you. So you decided to open this place up because you had nothing else to do?"

"This isn't my place. It's a friend's but he's busy with his restaurant so I'm watching it for him."

Ino propped her legs on top of one of the arms. "Well I'm glad your friend decided to open today. Wake me up when it's closing time, please."

The barista's mouth opened to say something, but when he saw the blonde's eyes flutter into a deep sleep, he closed it. Quietly, he got up and grabbed a small blanket from one of the shelves to throw over her. She smiled unconsciously and he watched her for a few minutes before shaking himself out of it.

Thirty minutes before closing time, a rather round looking boy came into the cafe. He looked around, saw the sleeping blonde and turned to the barista.

"Shikamaru, I told you to make coffee for the customers, not poison them!"

"Tch."

As voices crept into her ears, Ino opened her eyes blearily to see a cheerful, round boy staring at her. She instantly stuck her two fingers out to poke his eyes in defense when the boy held up his hands in surrender and backed away.

"Hey, sorry to disturb your nap but we're closing."

"Oh." Ino swung her legs around and stretched in her chair. "What time is it?"

"Nine thirty."

"Oh, wow." Ino glanced around to see if the barista was still around, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Was there another guy here?"

"Shikamaru? He left." The boy looked at her closely.

Ino tried not to look disappointed. "I see. Okay well, thanks for letting me nap here."

"Hold on, he left a note." The boy handed her a napkin. Ino took it and read the chicken scratch, her smile growing a little bit bigger with each word. She thanked the boy again before leaving cafe. He glanced at the napkin she left behind and smirked at his friend's antics.

"You sly bastard. I didn't even say I was going to open tomorrow."

* * *

_You owe me eight dollars._

_See you tomorrow_.


End file.
